Vapor recompressed batch distillation (VRBD) is an energy‐integrated configuration which works on the principle of a heat pump. Operation of such a column is challenging due to unsteady, nonlinear dynamics and strong interplay between separation and energy efficiency. In this paper, a two‐step approach is proposed for optimal operation and control of such a column. Initially, an openloop optimal operation policy is generated for maximization of an overall performance index using offline optimization. To this end, three performance indices are proposed to capture interplay between separation and energy efficiency. Subsequently, a model‐based output feedback controller is designed to track this optimal performance trajectory. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated using a benzene‐toluene separation case study wherein it is shown that the proposed approach helps to achieve optimal operation in the presence of operational disturbances.

中文翻译：

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蒸汽再压缩间歇蒸馏的最佳操作和跟踪控制

蒸汽再压缩分批蒸馏（VRBD）是一种能量集成配置，可根据热泵原理进行工作。由于不稳定，非线性动力学以及分离和能效之间的强烈相互作用，这种色谱柱的操作具有挑战性。本文针对这种色谱柱的最佳操作和控制提出了一种两步法。最初，会使用离线优化生成一个开环最优操作策略，以使总体性能指标最大化。为此，提出了三个性能指标来捕获分离和能源效率之间的相互作用。随后，设计了基于模型的输出反馈控制器来跟踪此最佳性能轨迹。